A Load of Legendry Lumber

The 1960's were the final decade of the Original 6 and the golden age of hockey. Expansion would happen in 1967 and change the game forever. With that being said, hockey is still amazing today no matter who you are and while fights are down and talent is up, fans in the 60's were spoiled with some amazing players including these 4 guys:

2017 Leaf Stickwork Decade Leaders Points 1960s /25

Four NHL legends who are all HOFers on one card is cool. Having a game used piece of them is even cooler. The only thing that would have topped this in my opinion is a signature or four. However, it's still a nice piece and I enjoyed landing it. Two neat bits though, first is who is the leader of these four for the decade called the 1960s? I don't believe I would have ever guessed it myself:

By a pretty large margin (41 points) the winner is Stan Mikita. What's equally interesting to me is Stan also had more PIMs than the other three and the most assists.

While the card itself just features for generic pieces of wood which would be it's loan downfall in my opinion, its a relatively low production run makes up for that a bit. Second neat fact is ITG originally made the card in 2014 and it was released by Leaf in 2017 as apart of their Stickwork release.

Anyone else out there have any of these cards? What are your thoughts? Thanks for stopping by!

Parkhurst Project Card 37: Mr. Hockey

If there was ever a fire and my family was safe and I could go and grab one item, this might be it for me. I have made it very clear 1951 Parkhurst is my favourite set all time and when it comes to this set there really isn't much bigger and better than this.


1951-52 Parkhurst #66 Gordie Howe Rookie

 As you can see from the front, there is some damage. A pretty significant crease and some tape stains. With that being said, I only see beauty. This card is in fantastic shape and thanks to being taped in some book for a number of years have helped preserve the card I believe and prevented other creases from happening.

To see the card in person is a pretty awesome experience to be honest. It's hard to truly explain but for me personally this could be one of the best cards I will ever add to my collection and one I will certainly cherish for the rest of my life.

It is worth sharing the backside to show that this card is indeed a gem. Nice clean back with the same crease you may have noticed on the front.

What adds to my enjoyment of this card is the fact that I got to meet him many years ago and get a couple autographs. More recently, I bought and read his book Mr. Hockey which was a fantastic read and in ways I felt brought me closer to the man that was Gordon Howe. In many ways this marks a turning point for me in the set as I have been able to land a few whales from this historic set but alas there are a few more in the sea (Richard, Sawchuk, The Goal) but patience has got me this far and patience will be what it takes for me to finish it too. Thanks for stopping by and while my next post won't be featuring any cards of this magnitude, it does feature an amazing surprise!

Progress:


Card #66 and # 37 of my set


Percentage Complete:

35.2% 

Rest in Peace Mr. Hockey

Today we lost one of the game's greatest players, ambassadors and father. Gordie Howe passed away this morning at the age of 88. Words cannot express my sadness and I am just so happy to have my own special memory of meeting this legend.

Thank you Gordie for all that you have done for the game, and here are a few special cards of him from my collection.

65-66 Coca Cola

 

70-71 OPC Mr. Hockey Error (NNO)

 

79-80 OPC  (Last card from his playing days)

 

 77-78 OPC WHA (Last WHA Card)

 

An autographed handout when I saw his skate with the Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks

 

The card Bamlinden turned that signature into. 

Thanks for looking. :'(

Sets of Yesteryear - 1991-92 Parkhurst PHC

Well the past few weeks of exams and report cards sure took a lot out of me but I want to thank you patience while waiting for this post. Truth is I would have snuck in a post or two if I hadn't promised a big post this time around but alas I painted myself into that corner so it was my job to get myself out which only took a bit of time!

My regular readers will know I am a bit of a Parkhurst nut and honestly it was the 91-92 release that I first chased and subsequently was hooked on the brand for life. The 91-92 Parkhurst set is my second favourite set from the 90's right behind the amazing 90-91 Upper Deck set. In my opinion it was the best set Pro Set ever created, but I am slightly biased of course. In the set, there were a small batch of inserts including a Santa Claus Card and the PHC Insert set. PHC stands for Parkhurst Collectible and I for one ended up collecting a good number of these cards thanks to probably purchasing a case worth of this product as a kid. 

The design of the PHC cards was nearly identical to the base cards but on the front there was a badge in the upper right signifying the reason for the card and then the back side was numbered PHC 1 through 9. PHC 1-5 were found in series 1 packs and 6-9 were in series 2 packs.



PHC 1 Gordie Howe Front

 

The front side of this card has a nice old time colour photo of Gordie Howe and I love the simplicity of the shot and the fact the Mr Hockey is the only player in the shot. The colours look nice even today and I felt that this set has aged rather well in comparison to some of the drek to come out of the 90's (yes Score I'm looking in your direction). 

Backside

 

The backsides are clean and again very similar to the base set except it's all text here instead of a season by season break down and vital info. I do like how the Parkhurst watermark in the background works with the overall design of the back. You also get a second image of the player on front and in this case it's a B&W photo of Gordie. If I'm not mistaken, this looks like a cropped head shot of his Rookie Card photo and Bee Hive photo.

PHC 2 Alex Delvecchio Legend

Here's another one of the NHL great's and one of my main PC's Alex Delvecchio. I love that this photo features the white Red Wings jersey instead of the red which contrasts nice with these two cards in the binder. This features Alex later in his career after he has been made captain and the write up on the back features a nice summary of his career. 


PHC 3 Ken Hodge Rookie Leader

Oh Ken Hodge. I remember stocking up on your Young Gun rookies hoping you would be even better than your father Ken Hodge Sr. Well, you broke out of the gate hot scoring 30 goals in 70 games as a rookie but then sadly would only score 9 more goals over another 70+ games before taking your talents elsewhere. This card commemorates your amazing rookie season where you were the rookie leader in "Rookie Shooting Accuracy" which if you're wondering, he was 21% on the season.


PHC 4 Robert Kron Rookie Leader

Robert Kron is not a player I stocked up on in terms of rookies but perhaps I should have as Robert did put together a pretty solid NHL career spanning over 700 games. There aren't many horizontal cards in the set but this is the first of two in the PHC insert set and I like the look of this card. Robert Kron was the "Rookie Shorthanded Goals Leader".


PHC 5 Sergei Fedorov Rookie Leader

The final card you could pull from Series 1 packs was this gem. Love the wood Louisville TPS stick, no composite here kids! Fedorov would of course turn out the be the best of these three showcased rookies and this particular card is in honour of his season where he was "Rookie Shorthanded Goals Leader" as title he shared with Robert Kron.


PHC 6 Brett Hull Award Winner

One thing I love seeing is the All-Star uniforms from time to time and here is an example of such. In the case of this card, it is very fitting because Brett Hull was the MVP of the All-Star game.


PHC 7 Mario Lemieux Award Winner

Mario Lemieux makes an appearance in the PHC set as an award winner. In the case of Mario it is a season accomplishment and it recognizes his winning his third Art Ross Trophy.


PHC 8 New York Rangers Award Winner

Uh oh, Messier is touching the President's Trophy, maybe he shouldn't have and the Rangers would have won the Stanley Cup? Truth is the Penguins were stacked and there was no stopping them but it's fun to poke at the Rangers all the same!



PHC9 Terry Sawchuk Legend

Like series 1, series 2 PHC inserts include a former legend and yet another Red Wing, Terry Sawchuk. I like the B&W photo used here and clearly it is an in-game action shot. Maybe my favourite feature of this photo is his blocker which looks like an over-sized oven mitt.

Well there you have it a nice and simple insert set that I felt has aged rather well in the past 25 years. The player selection is nice and varied and while they could have showcased a few better rookies from the previous year, who honestly knew Ken Hodge would have been a big bust. The set fits nicely on a single 9 card page and is very affordable to any hockey fan out there. Book price is 15 dollars and can probably be found for less at your LCS.  I still check out this set from time to time in my collection and have even been fortunate enough to have the first two cards signed by Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio. While the set isn't amazing or game changing I think its a timeless set and worthy of a 4.0 out of 5 rating.

My next couple posts are going to highlight some of the amazing people out there including one card company!

When the Kings win the Cup, so do I!

When the Kings won the Cup a couple years ago, they beat my beloved Devils I might have felt like I lost, but I did win something! This time around my Devils didn't make the playoffs so I was able to cheer guilt free. However, they got themselves into some trouble early on but when it was said and done they were the best team in the NHL and as a result won their second Cup in franchise history.

In the beginning Casey warned us the prizes were going to be awesome and man o man, they were better than anyone including me could have expected. Without further ado, here is the loot:

91-92 Parkhurst Niklas Lidstrom Rookie

 One of my favourite sets from the 90's and my absolute favourite from that year. A rookie of a future HOF defenseman is not a bad way to start.


 91-92 Parkhurst Dominik Hasek Rookie

 While this is one of my favourite sets of all-time, this isn't one of my favourite players. Not even close to one. But he too will likely find his way into the Hall of Fame some day and not just as a visitor. I do to just remember him as a Hawk because it seems like after he left everything went down hill as far as respect goes.


91-92 Upper Deck Dominik Hasek Rookie

 Hate the set and hate the player. Still a future HOF rookie so it isn't all bad!


91-92 Upper Deck Teemu Selanne Rookie

 Future HOF rookie? Yep, and maybe you are noticing a pattern with this awesome look. While I dislike the set, I did like the Canada Cup cards at the beginning of the set, it is more the base card design and over production that I disliked.


90-91 Upper Deck Pavel Bure Rookie

 I could own 100 of these and it won't diminish the coolness of Bure's only rookie card. K is for Kaptain.


95-96 SPx Daniel Alfredsson Rookie

 Very cool card and one design I haven't actually seen before. I wasn't into collecting much during this time period and only have his Young Gun from this year thanks to me still going after Collector's Choice. However, this is a neat enough card to have me interested in the set and this is another example of a future HOF rookie I am sure.


77-78 OPC Cleveland Barons

 Fun cards you can only find in the OPC release of 77-78. I have a Colorado Rockies one and this makes two. I wish Topps included this so I could try and track them all down as part of my set chase which I will post about at a later date.


76-77 OPC KC Scouts Team Checklist

 Back when the Devils franchise began. Just a cool card that of course means Casey cares.


77-78 OPC Craig Patrick

 Another card from a set I like more than the average collector (again more on this in another post). I don't have many from the OPC release so this card is another welcomed addition.


88-89 OPC Steve Yzerman 5th year

 Back on the HOF/future HOF track. Stevie Y from the iconic 88-89 OPC set.


87-88 OPC Steve Yzerman 4th year

 Here is Steve from the not-so iconic 87/88 OPC set. I really don't know why this set isn't loved as much (design is a little weak). Oates and Robitaille rookies are the biggies here but a few good sleeper rookies like Damphousse, Mike Vernon, Stephane Richer, Claude Lemieux and Bill Ranford to name a few.


86-87 OPC Steve Yzerman 3rd year

 One of the coolest Yzerman cards coming my way and one I definitely didn't own but really wanted to have.


89-90 Topps Brian Leetch Rookie

Tired of the HOF and future HOF rookies yet? I am definitely not. Another one I might already own but is in amazing shape like all the cards that came my way and is truly appreciated.


79-80 OPC Barry Melrose Rookie

 This rookie books for higher than Simmer AND Tonelli! Make sense? Not to me but this is a pretty cool rookie nonetheless. Check out the upper left of the photo, looks like a printing error and I never noticed that before this post.


74-75 OPC WHA Anders Hedberg Rookie

 WHA HOF'ers! This package I got from Casey is amazing and there was a pair of WHA HOF rookies.


74-75 OPC WHA Ulf Nilsson

 Ulf is another WHA HOF rookie in the collection. Even though I already had these two cards, the condition they are both in are superior to the ones I have in my set and so I am very pleased to have doubles!


90-91 Score Martin Brodeur

 Wow. Best Devils goalie ever. Top 5 in NHL history if you ask me and maybe even top 3 depending on what we are talking about. Another very fine specimen for the collection.


02-03 Crown Royale Tim Thomas Rookie Purple /799

 Didn't have this one at all and glad I do now. Not a big fan of him, but I love rookies and I was missing one from the former Vezina winner.


02-03 SPx Ryan Miller Rookie /999

Another top notch player and perennial Vezina candidate in rookie form. Like Thomas, I really would like to have owned one but didn't have it high enough on the priority list to make the purchase. Really glad to see this one in the package.


84/85 OPC Steve Yzerman Rookie Leader

Part of the base set but from Stevie's rookie year is this leader card. I have a couple of his base rookies but only one of these cards which is in the set as well. Very happy to add this to my collection and I would LOVE to get it signed some day. Not sure if he does TTMs but I will check into it as this might be an awesome mail away.


62-63 Topps Jean Ratelle 2nd year

The 2nd oldest card in the lot and one of the coolest is Jean Ratelle. This is his second year card and the stats on the back are all from his rookie season. This card is OLD and in amazing shape. Another huge addition to the collection and one I didn't have but always wanted.


57-58 Topps Alex Delvecchio

Holy PC love Batman. Just pure amazing this card is.


79-80 OPC Gordie Howe Final Year

Another card I always wanted but didn't have. I have two of these in Topps form but not the cooler OPC. This card is amazing and in such superb condition it has been sitting on my display mantle for weeks now. Another winner for the winner!



77-78 OPC WHA Gordie Hower

Last card is another amazing Howe card. This is one I already had in my set but the one Casey sent was superior is quality and is also on my mantle at home. Just amazing when you consider all the cards and you have two Gordie Howe's from his playing days. Many consider Gordie the greatest of all-time and some day I would like to have one of every card from his playing days and having a couple not in a set I am building/already have is pretty nice.

Thank you very much Casey, all of these cards are going to be well taken care of and appreciated for a very long time!

65-66 Coca-Cola Gordie Howe

Here is my second 65-66 Coca-Cola card and it is every bit as beautiful as the Delvecchio.

Love the posed photo on ice, this is how I always picture Gordie in my head. The card is in amazing shape with the only issue being the bottom right. These cards are also a little thinner than your average card too, I forgot to mention that in the last post.

 Here is the back, again lots and lots of stats and info. I really think it is amazing that he would play another 15 seasons after already what would be a HOF career. Because of his time in the WHA, he would only score another 489 NHL points and 206 of those would be goals. His WHA time would see him compile 174 goals, 334 assists and 508 points. Pretty amazing considering he was 37 when this card came out!

There you have it, my two Coke cards and my oldest Howe in my collection. This card is the most expensive in the set booking for about 60 bucks.

The Final Two HOF Autos

Little talk, just show here. My last two autos are ones I have had for over 20 years, but they are new because of what you are going to see. Brett from My Hockey Card Obsession took these two autos:

Then with his amazing talent turned them into these:

A shortage in disk storage space on my scanning computer resulted in a botched scan so I am using the pics that Brett shared on twitter a little while back. These cards are amazing in person and it is truly a skill to take an auto on a piece of paper and turn it into a piece of art. Thank you very much Brett I really really appreciate it. The Howe is my favourite HOF auto addition in the past year and I look forward to sharing more pick ups in the near future!

Btw if case you are curious, I got the Gordie Howe auto the same night I got this Gordie Howe auto.